Intelsat III F-8

Intelsat III F-8 was a communications satellite owned by Intelsat. The satellite had an estimated useful life of 5 years.

Design
The last of eight Intelsat III satellites to be launched, Intelsat III F-8 was built by TRW. It was a 293 kg spacecraft equipped with two transponders to be powered by body-mounted solar cells generating 183 watts of power. It had a design life of five years and carried an SVM-2 apogee motor for propulsion.

Launch
Intelsat III F-8 was launched on a Delta M rocket, flying from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch took place on July 23, 1970, with the spacecraft bound for a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

The Intelsat III F-8 was lost due to a malfunction during the apogee motor firing. Communications stopped 14.5 seconds into the planned 27 second apogee motor burn.